Roundup

What a busy month! Ever feel like vacation takes more out of you, and you need a vacation after vacation? I’ll skip the sob story of how much non-stop fun we’ve been having and tell you in a more neatly compiled list.

Wisconsin- So we’re back. After a long baby-crying/mommy-crying car ride, we’ve arrived back in Sheboygan. I did not pack as many sweaters or jeans as I should have, but the weather seems to be warming up, and it looks like I get another month of spring. The farmers markets start June 7th, and I can’t wait to see familiar faces, and get back to cooking all day! I am also excited to give Oliver some much needed Grandparent time!

Foraging- Foraging is the concept of searching and harvesting wild food. Of course what you find will always vary on where you live, and what season it is. For a lovely Wisconsin spring day we hope to find fiddlehead ferns, asparagus, ramps, and morel mushrooms. We scored a ton of ramps, which we are going to try to pickle the bulbs, and dehydrate the leaves. Maybe we can launch a raw ramp ranch dressing at the farmers market! Erik scored a couple stalks of asparagus which Oliver used as a new teething toy. If you’ve never tried to forage, I highly recommend it. It is so much fun searching around, and you will discover things you never thought to pay attention to before. Nature is so wonderful! I have also been seeing a ton of beautiful recipes for tempura dandelions, as well as dandelion french toast. So pretty.

Ramp crazed.

The end of my ‘no-poo’- I was under the impression that everyone had heard of this by now. To my surprise, almost no one I talked with about this understood what it meant! A few months back, my hair started thinning after Oliver was born. I knew it was coming, but I had no idea how much I would be losing. For me, it was quite traumatic. If you had just passed me on the street, I’m sure you wouldn’t notice. I am not one to oversaturate any part of my body with too much product (even the organics) so I thought this was the perfect time to try out the no-poo method.

The no-poo theory consists of washing your hair with a baking soda solution, and rinsing with an apple cider vinegar solution. Sounds so easy right? I gave it a solid 3 months before I came crawling back to my Jason hair products. I missed the lather, I missed the smell, and I felt as though it wasn’t aiding any of my hair thinning. I was still wearing my hair back everyday. So I quit. I am still thinking about making my own shampoo.

Angel Olson- If you have never listened to the sound of her voice, stop everything and watch the video below. She reminds me a bit of Karen Dalton: unique voice, and very old-timey sounding. I don’t know bout y’all but I am so so SO over the girly girl voice these days. She has a new album out, and is touring at this very moment. Major girl crush…. nuff said.

Eating Animals- Another great book by Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals has been said to convert long time vegetarians to vegan activists. Not that yours truly needed any convincing, but every now and then it’s good to reassure your beliefs, and remember why you hold them so dear. His perspective on how our culture regards certain animals with greater importance than others is unique and thought provoking; the same people who wouldn’t flinch at eating a burger would cringe at the thought of devouring their dog and vice versa. I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just my fellow veg-heads.

You Are Your Childs First Teacher- I wish this book was longer. Or rather I wished Rahima Dancy wrote a follow up into the teen years. Its so great that every time I try to reference anything out of it, I end reading so much more than planned. I grow closer to trying to raise Oliver in a modified Waldorf fashion, and this book goes over so many great natural techniques to develop with our children. When I put the book down, I feel a little more assured of my parenting.

Indiana Jones- To be more specific, we watched the first of the series, Raiders of the Lost Ark. How in the world has my husband existed 30 years on this planet without seeing any Indie Jones movies! I can’t say I know what it was that attracted me so much to them as a child. Perhaps the tom-boy inside wanting to take down the bad guys while discovering historic relics. Or maybe it was Harrison Ford. George Lucas no doubt was ahead of his time. It was great to see the action, the romance, and of course, laugh at the gory death scenes. The classics never get old.

I’ve decided that I would start a roundup of all my favorite things/happenings/interests of the past month. Sort of a what-I’m-into-these-days kind of thing for each month. So much is happening that I want to share, but who wants to read an entire blog post on my new obsessions with wall tapestries? (Well, I would, but that’s beside the point) Here goes:

Wall Tapestries– I’ve been loving my new rigid heddle loom my hubby got me for Christmas. I started seeing these mini woven wall hangings online and wanted to try one out on my loom. I believe they are usually made on frame looms, but I figured I could make it work on my rigid heddle. I bought some odd textured yarn from the fabric store and gave it a shot. I must say I’m quite pleased! It’s sort of 70’s boho sheik, but if you know anything about me, then you’ll know it’s right up my alley! I will post some pictures of my first wall hangings soon.

These lovely pieces are made by Justine Ashbee. I am becoming slightly obsessed with her work.

Game Of Thrones- Yup. It’s happened. I knew something had to fill the place of ‘The Walking Dead’, and G.O.T. has been awesome! So much action, great character development, and the story behind it all intrigues me. We’ve finished season 1, and are going to see how long we can hold off before starting season 2. Erik has become a slight fanatic as well, which makes both our early mornings unbearable. I also just found out that Peter Dinklage (who plays Tyrion Lannister), is a vegan!

The General Store- Has anyone been here? Am I preaching to the choir? I follow one of the women, Hannah Henderson on Instagram, who co-runs this amazing shop in Venice Beach CA. I am lucky not to live out there anymore, or I fear I’d have no money left to eat! Everything they sell seems delicately hand picked.

Triangle cutting boards….drool.

Blind Pilot– This love affair has been going on for quite sometime. I think with the coming of spring, Blind Pilot tunes are such a nice fit. All of their albums are quite good, but lately their iTunes live show has been in repeat in my kitchen.

Stencils- Another old obsession, but since our little one has been growing leaps and bounds, we had to craft up another array of onesies. I even made a special 13 pointed lightening bolt (homage to the grateful dead). So much fun. I will attempt to make these shirts next week for some special people. In case you were wondering how I have perfected the skill of stenciling, check out my post here.

Food- March is always a transitional month for vegetables. I am so thankful that winter has ended in Maryland. As far as food here, we’ve been enjoying asparagus, fiddle head ferns, lots of sweet potatoes, and lots of greens, with the pairings of heartier meals such as loafs and stews. I am still awaiting rhubarb, which I think should be peaking sometime soon. I have also been working at perfecting my chocolate chip recipe (I am close!) which has resulted in late night cookie feasts….no one’s complaining.

Perfecting perfect.

Books- The babe and I have been trying out our yoga moves together with Baby Om. So far when we get going its been nothing but laughs. Though that makes it a little hard for me to take it serious. I’ve also been skipping through pages of The Vaccine Book, by Dr. Sears. Its completely been mind blowing! As a person who has spent the last 13 years of her life checking ingredient labels, learning about the preservatives in each vaccine has been slightly disturbing.